Asphyxiation
by TheWeatherOutside
Summary: Trapped under rocks with a limited air supply at the bottom of the ocean? Just a regular day for International Rescue. (Day 19 of Whumptober 2019 - Asphyxiation)


Explosion. Tumbling. Crashing. Pain.

Gordon's mind tried to catch up with everything that had just happened.

He had been in some underwater lab. It was flooding and he had been sent down to retrieve the scientists working there before the water took over. They had all been safely sent up in dry tubes to where Thunderbird 2 sat just above the surface. Gordon had just been heading back to Thunderbird 4 after doing a final sweep of the facility, when the whole structure exploded.

The explosion had sent Gordon tumbling through the air before he collided with a rocky wall. The impact had sent the rocks crashing down onto him, and that was where he found himself now. Trapped under a pile of rocks at the bottom of the ocean.

Gordon tried to breathe, but it was difficult with the weight crushing down on his back. At least his arms were free, and they were stretched out on the sand in front of him. He tried to push himself up on them, but the weight was too heavy to move. He was going to have to remote pilot TB4 over to him and lift the rocks off that way.

However, the situation just seemed to get worse as when he lifted his wrist to his face, he was met with an alarm flashing from the holographic display. It was a gauge that displayed the amount of oxygen in his rebreather, and it was depleting fast.

Gordon began to panic as he saw the number drop. The rocks must have damaged it somehow and now the air was escaping. He tried to calm himself down, knowing that if he began to hyperventilate the oxygen supply would drop faster. He could barely breathe anyway with the weight of the rocks on him, but every bit of the oxygen was vital.

He dismissed the gauge for now to pull up the remote pilot for his bird. He tried to be quick as he could already feel the effects of the lack of oxygen. His vision began to blur as he deployed the robotic arms and guided them over to the biggest rock on top of him.

He could feel the weight lift off of him and at least now there wasn't as much pressure on his ribs and lungs, but there were still too many rocks for him to be able to move just yet. TB4 moved away for a moment to toss the rock to the side, then Gordon guided it back to pick up the next one.

After that one was gone, there was only one more rock that Gordon needed lifting before he would be able to push the rest of them off himself. When his bird was moving the rock, Gordon quickly checked his oxygen gauge again, and tried to not freak out too much when he saw that it was already in the red. He didn't have long.

TB4 turned back and Gordon steered it towards the last rock, but it took longer than he would have liked as his vision was almost a complete blur at that point and he had a hard time concentrating on his task. His limbs felt lethargic as he guided the bird towards the rock, and eventually he felt the worst of the weight leave his back.

He pushed himself up on heavy arms and the smaller stones fell from his back. A wave of dizziness washed over him as he swam to be upright again. He turned to look for his bird, but darkness was filling his vision and he was having a hard time focusing on anything. He almost forgot what he was looking for, and probably would have if it wasn't for the bright yellow of the sub that filled his vision.

He concentrated on his little sub and swam towards it, his movements feeling more sluggish by the second. It felt like forever until he reached it. He didn't even realise he had made it until he swam straight into the back of it. He opened the hatch and swam in.

It was excruciating waiting for the water to be drained out of the airlock, and he would have just opened the door up if he didn't want to deal with another flooding today.

His eyes began to droop as he waited and just as he was about to be pulled into the depths of sleep, the inner door opened automatically and he fell into the back of the sub.

He had just enough sense to pull his helmet off and he could finally breathe.

He laid on the floor of the sub for a while, panting as he breathed in the air that circulated the small space. He hadn't even taken the time to assess himself for any other injuries, but now that he didn't have to worry about breathing he could feel the aches that began to make themselves known throughout his body.

Nothing hurt too badly, though, so anything else could wait for the moment. For now he just wanted to breathe for a bit.


End file.
